Home Warranty/Service Contract companies? (Austin, Avery: insurance, appliances, new home)

[10scoachrick]

Greetings all. We're almost there! We close on our 4 year old Drees Avery Ranch home on the 2nd...much excitement!

I'm wondering about experiences you may have had with 'Home Warranty' companies...three have been mentioned by our agent but, of course, we have no experience with any of them. Would anyone have experience with any of these folks or any other recommendations? Thanks. See you soon!
Home Warranty of America (HWA) – Your Best Defense Against the Unexpected

www.AmericanHomeShield.com

Old Republic Home Protection - Home Warranty Service (Old Republic)

[austin-steve]

They are all equally good/bad. I've dealt with them all over the years. Your experience will vary from company to company and it all depends on which particular vendor is sent to your home and what type of repair you need.

I personally don't use home warranty on any of the properties I own. I think they're a rip-off, for the most part. AHS left my tenant with A/C for 9 days in August many years ago, in 100 degree heat, as they went through their "second opinion" process because, apparently, they didn't trust the first vendor who said the unit needed to be replaced. I finally sent my own A/C guy who found a $50 part that needed replacing and had the system running in 45 minutes. I forever stopped using HW Companies that day.

But since sellers routinely agree to pay for a new home warranty for buyers, we make sure a buyer has one on every deal to at least protect them during the first year of owning the home.

That said, I know people who love home warranties and wouldn't be without.

But, in my opinion, you may as well have a monkey throw darts when deciding which one will deliver the best service.


Steve

[HMS Pinafore]

We currenty have American Home Sheild. Our current home is 19 years old so I figured it would be good 'insurance'. In fact, our relator actually paid the 1st year for us as a gift when we purchased the home. AHS recently rasied their co-pay from $30 to $55! The best deal we received (at least I think it was a good deal :-) was having them replace our upstairs AC unit, then the heating unit the same year followed by the outside condensing unit several months after. The AHS contract is cut & dry as the mechnical company actually doing the work can only fix/replace the worn out unit for the problem reported. No more no less. The technician told me that everything will need to be replaced due to its age but couldn't per their contract. So I had to wait for each unit to fail and pay another $30 each time.

I also didn't have a choice of the new brand name unit they replaced it with which was a Goodman which I found out later is close to builder-grade. The biggest bite was I had to pay about $800 to bring the new installation up to code (ventilation, drainage, safety switch, etc.). Again I heard HVAC unit replacements can range from $4 to $12K pending on grade and SER ratings of the equipment.

Since your Ausin home is only 4 years old, check the condition of the HVAC units and built in appliances or ask you home insptector his opinion.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

But since sellers routinely agree to pay for a new home warranty for buyers, we make sure a buyer has one on every deal to at least protect them during the first year of owning the home.

That said, I know people who love home warranties and wouldn't be without.

But, in my opinion, you may as well have a monkey throw darts when deciding which one will deliver the best service.


Steve

Thanks, our seller is paying toward the first year of warranty so we will pick a vendor and hope for the best. We do try to keep the monkeys and darts away from each other so maybe I'll hit a tennis ball at the list.

[austifornian]

I have used all 3 and one other that you have not mentioned. Hands down, Old Republic has been the best and the easiest to work with.

[jwb123]

DO NOT USE American Home Shield - period! Seriously, google it and you will see all the problems nationwide.

We had that given to us too, when we bought this house - it's a JOKE! We haven't been able to get them to cover ANYTHING... and the thing that Austin-Steve said about his clients with the AC... the exact scenario happen to us this past June. The company they sent to us was rude and unprofessional... and actually broke our system, but denied it and wouldn't put us on priority to come out and fix it, left us (and my children) without AC and were unapologetic.

The copays for us with AHS were $65.

ALSO - ugh getting through to a real person is ridiculous, when you call the number. It's all automated and the slightest bit of background noise routes you to some other option far away in automated land, and it's so turned around you have to hang up and call back, and start again.

Insanity.

[pbnj07]

We had First American for our first year in the house and we just renewed with them.

I was really surprised to see some on the negative feedback for them on the Net. We used them over 5-7 times throughout the past year for different things and the service has always been first rate. They've always sent us good quality contractors.